Huge aluminum containers, to collect cans of beer or soda, have studded streets of Piatra Neamt. The action aims to encourage recycling, especially that the Romanian people collect only one of three cans of aluminum.

The population of Piatra Neamt has the opportunity to learn in a civilized manner selective recycling lesson, on city`s streets. Most travelled areas were studded, last week, with cans of aluminum - bin type. In the new "street furniture" will be collected the packaging of the beverage cans. The project, put into practice by local authorities, aims at maintaining cleanliness in pedestrian areas, and waste recycling.

Besides can shaped bins will be placed, soon, parallelepiped-shaped bins, where people can throw differentiated paper, plastic and glass waste. The project of selective collection of garbage from the street will be named
“Piatra Neamt –the green city”.

“We wanted to bring the two types of bins in Piatra Neamt, especially to make the citizens to show civic responsibility and not to throw garbage at random. Furthermore, the bins will have triple role. Besides the basic idea to recycle garbage, they are decorative and offer advertising space “ ,", said deputy city, Dragos Chitic.

The bins have a unique shape

Cans of beer from the streets are mounted by a sanitation company. The new bins have aroused curiosity, and the smiles from people in Piatra Neamt. "I noticed them last night. Frankly, I did not expect it to be a garbage can. They have a different form from what we see now on the pillars of the city", said amazed Ioana Silvaru from Piatra Neamt.

People that passing through the area of the Ozana tower block are amused by the unusual cans "they really look like a beer can. I hope not to be any hint to the pleasure of some of us", said the builder Ion Baciu, smiling. "We hope this experiment to give results, and the pedestrians get used to keep the city clean," said deputy Dragos Chitic.

The authorities hope the new bins to be more successful than the colored containers mounted between blocks. Balance of selective waste collection, three years after the establishment of the system, shows that people of Piatra Neamt have learned the lesson only in half.

Household waste, a problem

In Piatra Neamt, the biggest problems occur in collection of organic waste. "We cannot capitalize the biodegradable waste because people throw them mixed. Only 50% of the amount is organic material and here we cannot do manual sorting as it happens on paper or PET, "said the director of the sanitation society, Ion Ploaie.

At the beginning of the project, for every home in Piatra Neamt, were given, through associations, two buckets, distinctly coloured for selective collection of household waste. Only few use them today in this purpose. “People collect trash how they can, but sanitation system has its sins: bins are not washed and disinfected and the locs from the pens where they are located are broken", says Marian Hulea, technician.

European rules require us to recycle more

Piatra Neamt kicks-off to the selective recycling of aluminum cans. In the country, where there containers for selective waste collection, the Romanian people are encouraged to recycle empty cans of juice or beer in the yellow bins, with plastic. Alexandru Predoi, representing the sanitation company that operates in sectors six of Bucharest, says that the recycling field is still not very developed in our country. He says that citizens do not know that yellow bins are for aluminum and aluminum waste collection, although in Bucharest, each container of that kind has that specification on it.

There is a way through wich beer cans can be recycled. People who want to get rid of them, they can give them to collection centers and can even take money on them. A kilo of aluminum cost about 2 lei. European Union asks us to recycle at least half of the aluminum waste by 2014.

Worldwide are recycled two of three doses, and country champion in this regard is Brazil, with 95%, the reappraisal rate.

Gathered and "exported" cans

Approximately 7,500 tons of aluminum was placed on the Romanian market last year, which means about 450 million doses. According to representatives of nonprofit association ALUCRO, Romania recycles about 30% of aluminum cans, while in Poland, the recycling rate is 75%. Romania lacks Recyclers, therefore, boxes are capitalized in Europe, in countries like France, England or Germany.

"Street furniture"

Most traveled areas of the city under Pietricica were studded with aluminum cans- type bin. In the new "street furniture" will be collected the packaging of canned drinks. The project aims to maintain cleanliness in pedestrian areas, and also collection of recyclable garbage.

Who we are?

ALUCRO
is a non-profit association founded in 2008 by:

CAN PACK ROMANIA SRL EAA - EUROPEAN ALUMINUM ASSOCIATION

What we do ?

OUR MISSION

Awareness and education of a larger segment of the population regarding the collection and recycling of aluminum cans.